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Job overview

East Lancashire Child and Adolescent Service (ELCAS) has secured funding for a fantastic training opportunity for a new Band 5 Mental Health Practitioner. The successful candidate will be employed by ELCAS delivering systemic family interventions to Children, Young People and their Families, presenting with behaviour difficulties, low mood and self-harm, whilst also completing an AFT accredited Postgraduate Diploma in Systemic Family Practice (SFP).  The successful candidates will complete the course as Systemic Family Practitioners, with a nationally recognised qualification that is equivalent to Intermediate level Family Therapy. Therefore, we are seeking enthusiastic individuals with a passion for working with children, who want to develop their skills and knowledge as part of future career progression.

Candidates can be from a number of relevant professional backgrounds, including Psychiatric Nurses, Mental Health Social Workers, Occupational Therapists in Mental Health and Accredited Counsellors. Successful candidates will usually have some existing knowledge and experience of systemic interventions. Experience of at least 2 years clinical work with children and young people is essential. Psychology graduates and other professionals such as support workers who work therapeutically with children, young people and families are welcome to apply. However, at least 4 years experience of working with children and young people would usually be required in this instance.

Main duties of the job

This exciting one-year fixed-term training post will see successful candidates working in ELCAS as part of a multi-disciplinary team delivering, under supervision, high-quality, outcome-informed, systemic family interventions (SFP) to children, young people and their families three days per week. Two days will then be spent completing the AFT accredited Postgraduate Diploma in SFP through GMMH PTTC based at Prestwich, Manchester, in partnership with the University of Manchester.

Successful candidates will receive high quality clinical supervision both in service and as part of the course, will carry a small caseload of suitable training cases (around 6 to 8 at any one time) and will complete the course with a nationally recognised qualification in SFP.

Successful candidates will be expected to start their employment and be available to start this training post in early January 2025 and remain in post for 1 year until they complete the course. Acceptance of this post includes a commitment to organize annual leave around the requirements of the training course. 

The role involves travel between sites, so access to transport for work purposes is essential. Due to current circumstances the role currently combines home working as well as working in community/hospital settings.

Working for our organisation

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of services including secondary mental health care across this area. Specialist provision comprises inpatient child and adolescent mental health services, perinatal mental health and forensic services including low and medium secure care.

The Trust also provides a range of physical health and well-being services in the community alongside a range of partners in the Lancashire, Cumbria and Sefton area.

ELCAS, part of the Specialist Network, is a specialist provider of mental health services for Children, Young People and their families and is rated Outstanding by the CQC. At ELCAS our vision is to be a recognised centre of excellence that exceeds people’s expectations. As well as rated Outstanding by the CQC, we are accredited by the Quality Network for Community CAMHS, part of the Royal College of Psychiatry Centre for Quality Improvement.

At ELCAS, we are proud of our close relationships we have with other departments within the Trust and we also have strong relationships with a range of third sector agencies and University training providers through our CYP Psychological Trainings Partnership. 

ELCAS has a strong track record of support for staff and for staff development. We want to support you in developing your career in children, young people and young adults’ mental health, and give you the opportunity to drive your ideas forward, having a positive impact on the lives of children and young people.